


Beautiful blue

by GreyWeeknds



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-28
Updated: 2013-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-06 18:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/738829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyWeeknds/pseuds/GreyWeeknds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall and his brother abuses this lady one time, that results him getting into juvie. It isn't until a social worker called Rob saves him and takes Niall into his home.<br/>Him and his stepbrother Harry gets on the wrong foot from the first time they meet each other, and it doesn't help them when Harry's friends tries to get Niall into their gang.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

His eyes trembled over the blue old brick wall; there were still prints of horny men’s hands all over the wall as they had moved their bodies against it in pleasure. He could almost hear the people screaming out each other’s names in the night as they reached the end of their goal, with their tiny white football players streaming into one of the other prisoners arses. He hadn’t yet touched the cold stones, afraid of getting a disease. Some men looked at him like he was a piece of meat, and he couldn't help to shiver of fear when the thought crossed his mind that they might do something towards him.

He glanced at the only man that he had talked to through his whole experience in here, his name was Ramon and he had a thick, black moustache with some grey hairs in it over his thin lip. He looked terrifying, scars from knifes that covered his whole face and a golden tooth that appeared when he smiled. Niall wouldn’t really call him as harmless as a fly, because the reason why he sat here was that he had killed three people when he was trying to rob cash from a gas station. But he was a lot cooler than the most of the guys that was sitting here, instead of fucking each other senseless; he liked to tell the little Irish fellow some stories.

He remembered when Ramon had told him the tale about his daughter, with a smile brighter than the sun and black curls shiner than diamonds. Since her mother had left them when she had found a new man, Sophie had been his everything.

She had been four when he had found her small and tiny body, naked with words like ‘Latin cunt’ or ‘Mexican whore’ written with blood all over her bare stomach, in a bush with used condoms on the ground. She had been raped and killed by some drunken teenage kids, and from that day on, Ramon changed, the once happy appearance in his face turned to a tired and angry man, with nothing but hatred left in his body. 

Niall couldn't imagine the pain that the man was experiencing. Knowing that he was never going to see his daughter getting married and having children by her own, and some nights Niall was certain that he heard the foreigner sobbing against the wall.

The jailers had said something to Niall about a businessman named Rob was bailing him out. He had no idea why somebody would want to pay money to get him out in the society again, most people looked at him like he was some dirty kid with no future except stealing bills from old ladies purses. He had no clue why this stranger was even here, or wanting to pay him out of this place, but he didn’t like him, not even one bit.

“Horan, come here, there’s someone who wants to meet you.” One of the guards said as he waved his hand to Niall so that he would understand that he should follow him.

Niall dragged his feet after himself as he walked beside the tall man, hearing prisoners in blue costumes shouting desperately at him to help them out of this horrible place.

He was led into a white room, an old man in a brown blazer sitting on a chair as he waited patiently for him to sit down. Niall looked with a refusing gaze at the stool, never wanting to give up to obey for them. The old man only smiled as he corrected his glasses that were resting on the tip of his wide nose, and then the red tie that was hanging around his pig-looking neck.

“My name is Robert, but call me Rob. You must be Niall.” He beamed.

“Perhaps.” He muttered, not meeting the kind brown eyes that was seeking after his.

“I guess they didn’t told you who I am.” Rob claimed, and Niall only shook his head.

“No need to, I recognise your type. Fancy clothes with a wallet as fat as the agitators on your belly. You’re a lawyer or something like that.”

Rob’s eyes didn’t even flicker and his smile was still plastered on his lips. Niall was impressed; he had to admit that, that the man didn’t even changed one face as he heard the mean words that Niall was spitting out towards him.

“Not really no, I’m a social worker. I’m here to offer you a place to sleep at until there’s a relative that calls to take care of you.”

“I don’t need your alms, I’ve got a gurney to sleep at here, that’s enough. So keep that bed of yours to some other stupid kid that doesn’t understand that you’re only using them to earn some money of your own. Using kids to get cash, it’s bloody disgusting.”

“Believe what you want son, but I’m only here to help you.” The man sighed, getting slightly frustrated at Niall’s refusing behaviour.

“Yeah, and I believe that you’re only trying to bribe me.”

The lights went out and the room turned dark. He felt two strong arms dragging him to the ‘entrance of the paradise’ like they used to call it. In reality it was only a door, but the people that walked out of it, walked into freedom, or so he had been told. But somehow Niall doubted it now, because he felt more captured than ever.

-

“The sun is quite beautiful here son, isn’t it? Always shining with a welcoming smile to new visitors.” Rob asked with a bit the cheerier tone in his voice once again.

“Don’t call me son, you’re not my dad and I don’t have any parents to say that to me.” He mumbled.

“Niall, I’ve read your file and you do have parents, both still in life.”

“My mum’s a druggie, and dad’s in prison for manslaughter. I think being in life can be defined differently if you come from the world that I grew up in.”

He didn’t felt to talk more, because obviously Rob didn’t understood much more than what his money could touch. What was the point of him being here really? Niall was anyway going to turn eighteen next year, and some extra time at the prison wouldn’t make that much of a difference. He hadn’t even had gotten the opportunity to say goodbye to Ramon, but in a way that didn’t really matter. He didn’t even know Niall’s name, only referred to him as ‘Kiddo’. He felt a bit embarrassed, and he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he missed to hear the Mexican raspy accent that asked him in the mornings if he wanted a piece of his bread to shear. It had felt nice to feel like somebody cared about him, even though he had only been some escape to not think about Sophie, his loveable sunbeam.

“I’m going to pull over here, want something to eat?”

When he thought about it now, he actually felt that he was extremely hungry. His stomach wrenched in pain and he had to hit it under the seatbelt to make the hunger disappear. But he didn’t want Rob to buy him some fancy food, because then he would be in debt to him, and he hadn’t any desire to start this so called ‘relationship’ with the feeling like he was a underdog.

“No, I’m not hungry.” He lied, feeling like he was going to faint by the screaming pain in his belly and the warmth from the sun.

“I interpret that as a yes.” Rob laughed as the fat on his stomach sloshed happily.

His eyes were glued on the man’s wide back until he almost disappeared, being only a dot far away on the surface. It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes before he was back again, with two hot dogs in his hands. He handed over one of sausages before he etched his yellowish teeth down in own. He glared at him sceptically before he accepted the food, not really bothering anymore about not trusting him. Niall felt like he would have eaten a whole horse if he could, and the hot dog was gone as fast as he had gotten it.

Perhaps Rob wasn’t as bad as he first had thought, maybe it was only the fancy suit that tricked him into believing that his personality was more posh than he actually were. Niall knew that important people like Rob had to dress up to look more sophisticated, even though people like Niall felt slightly less important when they had to stand beside them.

“We’re soon home.” He informed him.

Niall didn’t even bother to correct him, to say to him that they were soon at Rob’s home, not Niall’s. This was only going to be temporary, at the most, two weeks. It wasn’t like he was actually going to move in with him, being a part of the man’s family. Because that meant that he had to bring a suitcase to the new house, if he now had owned any, and he didn’t felt like to play the happy adopted stepson of a rich couple.

“This is it, we’re finally here.” He beamed.

It had been an understatement when he had said a house. This wasn’t a house; it was a mansion for fucks sake. There was a massive fountain in white marble in the middle of the garden beside a big pool, looking even fancier than the one at the bathhouse back at his old place. He had never seen things like this in real life, only in the movies that he had watched on the telly.

“Ah there’s Harry, my stepson.” Rob said as he pointed with his index finger towards a younger bloke.

“He’s another social case?” Niall wondered, looking at the guy with eyes greener than the fake grass at the ground.

“Harry? No, he’s my wife’s son. Love him to death though even if he's not my real.”

“You want me to talk to him?”

“That’d be nice, but only if you want to.”

Niall wasn’t particular sure if he wanted to, but he felt this guilt in his body, because Rob had bought him this sausage and now he felt like he had to do it, even if he didn’t wanted to. This was the thing that he had feared when he ad accepted the food, that he was going to be in debt for them taking care of him. That was the whole reason why it had seemed as a better idea to just stay at the prison, even though life was a lot rougher there and with the possibility that he was going to be raped in the nearest couple of months.

“Niall, you don’t have to if you don’t feel like it. Harry will understand if you need some time.”

He only nodded his head as thanks, before he walked a detour to escape the boy. 

Usually Niall’s wasn’t this unsocial, but he felt really out of place here, being the criminal in the posh neighbourhood. People would think that he was going to steal their cars whenever he would have to pass them every morning. They would only have to look at his baggy jeans, white supras and the old snapback that he wore. Rich persons often judged people like Niall, even though they didn’t wanted to admit it. They thought that they were better than him and that they were more worthy than him, having a druggie as a mother.

He walked into the kitchen, smelling the fresh scent of cleaners that was finding its way through his nose. Beside the table there was a woman, a bit younger than Rob, painting her toenails in a cerise colour. When she looked up, she smiled brightly against him. He couldn’t help but feeling this warm emotion that was floating over him as he tried to return the gesture, but kind of failed miserably.

“You must be Niall, I’m Anne,” She said as she threw her arms around his neck.

“You have no idea how much my mother will hate you, I can’t wait for her to meet you. It’s going to be so funny to see that bitch finally coming down to earth.”

“You’re welcome… I guess.”

“Oh no, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that, I’m so happy to finally give Harry the brother he always wanted to have.”

He looked at the brunette, feeling slightly uncomfortable being in her presence. He didn’t know what these people expected from him, but he wasn’t going to be somebody’s ‘brother’. He had his own family, even though they weren’t any good, he didn’t want to replace them. And he already had a brother, why would he want to exchange him to this curly haired guy that was obviously seeing him as his own personal toy. He didn’t know where Greg was right now, probably still on the run from when they had abused that lady when they stole her car. They had both known that it had been better to let Niall take all the blame, because Niall wasn’t an adult yet compared to Greg. At the most he would be sent to juvie, but his older brother would have to be forced to go the same path as their father had once done.

“Is it okay if I go somewhere and sleep?” he asked while he was massaging his own scalp of blond locks.

“Oh yeah, sure. You’re going to have to share room with Harry though, but you will have your own bed as I think you guys would want to have some personal space. Just go up the stairs and there’s a door with the sign ‘do not interrupt’, there’s your room.” Anne said, looking like she was ashamed over something that she had done.

He jogged up the stairs as he yawned loudly, feeling more tired than he had done in a long while. Usually he had only listen to Ramon’s stories until he fell asleep, but now he felt more alone than he had ever done before. Even though it seemed like these persons actually cared about him, he felt like he was just some intruder, forcing them to take care about him.

He laid down on the mattress, feeling his whole body being buried by the white Egyptian sheets. It felt soft and it was the comfiest bed he had ever rested on in his entire life. He was certain that he was going to fall asleep in only a mattered of seconds, and for the first time, he felt really thankful fore someone caring about him.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hello, yeah you blondie. You have to wake up, or else we’re going to be late for school.” He heard a distant voice whining.

School, he had forgotten about that place. It wasn’t a thing that he had ever liked; usually he just ditched it to hang around with Greg and his friends at the pier, smoking happily together. Niall had felt proud when he had been sitting beside his brother on one of the wooden benches, knowing that Greg liked to bring Niall with him everywhere that he went. Greg had been the closest to family that he had ever had, and he wasn’t going to just forget about him because some fancy dude had offered him a place to sleep at.

Rob had said something about him having to go jump down a year because he had missed too much when he had been at the juvie, and to be honest, he wasn’t that surprised. In reality he needed to begin from scratch, but it was a bit too late for that. He didn’t felt ready to begin studying again, the last time that he even had done his homework had been when he was around nine years old, before his mum had began on crack.

“Hello, wake up.” The voice said again.

He tried to block out the raspy tone out of his head; continuing to sleep until he was eighteen so that he could get a place of his own, perhaps have a bird to fuck on certain occasions. He wasn’t a guy that fitted in a fancy world like this; he was the type that had to wear a gun in his back pocket everywhere that he went so that nobody would try to rob the little cash that he owned.

“Dad, he won’t listen to me.” He whined again.

“Niall, you have to go up now, there’s breakfast in the kitchen that Anne has put ready for you guys.”

Niall sighed loudly as he opened his eyes, meeting those green orbs again. He didn’t know what it was, but this guy really pissed him off. He had this expectation that Niall was going to be his stepbrother, and obey at everything that he said to him. There was no chance that he was going to be the underdog for this kid, not a way.

He pushed his hand on Harry’s chest, making the younger guy chough. The two eyes were so wide that Niall wasn’t sure if they were going to fall out or not. Niall knew that he hadn’t been ready for him being so mean towards him, and to be honest, neither did he. But there was this thing that couldn’t place his finger on, something that he didn’t like about the kid.

“Move away, or I’ll punch you in that ugly face of yours.” The blonde muttered, narrowing his eyes annoyingly.

“Niall!” Rob exclaimed; looking rather shocked over the Irish sudden personality change.

“You too stonecrop.”

He walked down the stairs, patting his bare chest as he headed to the kitchen. He could already smell the delicious taste from the food, and that made him feel a little bit cheerier than before.

He wasn’t really sure how Anne was going to react, seeing him in nothing but boxers. He wasn’t really familiar with ladies seeing him half naked, but then he reminded himself than she had a teenage son of her own, even if he seemed like this giant pussy.

“You want something to eat hun?”

He nodded silently as he sat down on one of the chairs. The sound of the plates that rattled filled his ears, and for a slight moment he felt a bit nervous about going to school. There was only going to be those rich kids, having nothing in common with him. He didn’t knew how he was ever going to fit in there, since he was probably going to be the only kid in there that was poor, not having parents that was activated in all their children hobbies.

“On second thought, I’m not so hungry after all.” He mumbled, feeling slightly sick.

“You’re feeling nervous?”

He didn’t wanted to admit to her that yes, he was in fact really worried about this whole life change, but in some way she seemed to be trustworthy. It didn’t felt like that she would tell anybody about him being afraid of going there, but yet he couldn’t find himself to utter it aloud.

“I remember Harry’s first day when we first moved here.”

“You haven’t always lived here?” He interrupted her.

“Oh no, we moved to this neighbourhood three years ago. As I was saying, I remember Harry’s first day at school here. He couldn’t even sleep for a whole week, not eating a thing. Then when he came home, he was so proud over that he had found someone that wanted to be his friend.”

“Geez mum, thanks for telling some stranger one of my embarrassing Harry stories.” The voice said, getting louder by every new word.

He turned around, and once again he saw those brown curls that fell down in front of his face. He was too wearing only boxers, and it felt a bit weird that here they were, two guys that didn’t knew anything about each other, stood in the kitchen almost naked. He could feel how his cheeks wear beginning to flush as he noticed how Harry was staring at his body, looking at every inch of his skin like he was this piece of meat.

“What’re you staring at fag.” He muttered, before he stormed up to his room again.

In the background he could hear mumbling voices saying something about how Rob could bring this psycho into their home.

He hadn’t asked the man to take Niall with him; he had even said that he rather wanted to stay at the jail instead of coming home with him. He had to bite away the tears that were suddenly starting to swell up inside of him. He felt really ashamed to be sitting here, almost crying in his soft bed.

He pushed his fingers into his ribcage, feeling the small pain that he was accusing his body to. It felt good to concentrate on how much it hurt in his ribs instead of the tears that wanted to escape his eyes.

He wondered what Greg would say if he had sawn Niall now, almost crying. He would mock his little brother, saying that he had turned into a real softie. He felt how the corner of his lips was starting to lift up, a bit happier when he thought about the older guy. He had always looked up to Greg, knowing that he couldn’t wish for a better brother than him. He would always try to protect Niall whenever he got the chance, and that he was proud over every little thing that the blonde did.

His breath was slowly starting to slow down, getting back to normal again. He went to one of the wardrobes, taking the first shirt that he saw. He didn’t care if Harry would get mad over him for taking his clothes, but he hadn’t any of his own, so the younger bloke had to accept it.

It was a black tee shirt with the text ‘Pink Floyd’ written over it. Niall was a bit surprised over that Harry even knew whom the band was. But then perhaps he didn’t know it; maybe he had only flashed his money to get it as he had thought that it had looked good.

He took his own pair of trousers as the only thing that the younger lad seemed own, was skinny jeans that would pinch his cock so hard that he would loose the feeling in it.

“You ready Niall, we’re driving now.” Rob shouted.

He only sighed silently back as an answer, feeling sicker for every second that went by. He felt childish for his behaviour, knowing that when he was going to put his foot at the school ground, he would run away either way. That was the thing that he did, escaped things that made him feel smaller.

-

The car ride had been extremely awkward, feeling Harry glaring angrily at him through the whole time that they were driving to the building. He knew that he wasn’t one of the brunette’s favourite persons, because really, he hadn’t earned himself the title, but that didn’t make it okay for him to look at him in that way. He had to clench his fist so that he wouldn’t punch the lad.

Niall had always had a problem with hitting people whenever he got mad, that was the whole reason why he had been in the juvie for the first place. Greg had only tried to rob the poor lady, but when she struggled against them, Niall had gone crazy and punched her over and over again until she couldn’t move. He didn’t know yet how the woman’s condition was; all he knew was that she was still at the hospital. Niall had to be honest, he was actually regretting that he had punched the crap out of her, but why couldn’t she have comprehended that she should’ve just given them the purse when they told her too?

“So I’m going to be in the same class as you then.” Niall said, wanting to take back the treats that he had put the curly haired through the twenty-four hours that he had known him.

“Yeah, so don’t talk to me. Don’t show that we in any way have met earlier, since I don’t want my reputation to be even more destroyed than it already was, with someone like you to stain it.”

The anger was once again floating over him. He felt the regret disappear, and all he could think about was how much he hated this guy.

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to be seen with a fag like you either way.”

“Good.” Harry muttered, walking away so that Niall was left on his own.

-

“So how is it going with the new brother of yours?” Louis grinned, glancing towards the blonde that was hanging loosely against the wall with a cigarette between his lips.

“He’s not my brother, only a social case that my dad’s brought home to our house.” Harry said, still feeling hurt over Niall’s mean behaviour that was directed towards him.

“It didn’t sound like that the last time we talked Hazza,” The brunette claimed.

“When you told us about that you we’re getting a brother, it seemed like you we’re floating on pink clouds.”

“Yeah, well, I was wrong. The guy’s an idiot, and I just want him to move away.” Harry muttered.

He didn’t know why Niall seemed to dislike him the most in the family. He treated both Rob and his mum quite nicely, or as nice as the older bloke could. But whenever Harry only appeared, he changed into this mean creature that hated Harry’s existence. He couldn’t think about him having done anything that would make the Irish angry with him; he had only treated him as everybody else.

“It will work out Harry, it always does in the end.” Liam reassured him.

“Yeah, totally.” Zayn agreed.

“I’m not so sure about that Li, not this time.”

They walked together towards the classroom, the friends forgetting all about the Irish that was still smoking outside, waiting for somebody to show him where he should go. But somehow, the thought about Niall couldn’t slip Harry’s mind, there was something about him that was etched into his brain, and he didn’t like it.

He glanced down towards the beautiful blue eyes that were staring down on the ground, sun shimmering against his bleached hair. It was a shame that a pretty guy like him had such a bad personality, because otherwise, Harry would easily fall head over heals for him.

He wondered if the blonde was going to ditch the first day at school, but he didn’t have to think about it that much. He looked out through the window, seeing the small figure decreasing by every moment that when by. He felt quite sad for the kid, not feeling like he fitted into this town. But then he remembered how bad he had treated Harry, saying all those evil words towards him every time that he opened his mouth.

The thought about Niall was slowly starting to disappear as the lesson began. He didn’t think about the boy that was crying in a bush, missing his friend at the prison or his brother that was still on the run. He didn’t think about the boy that was hitting his fist so hardly against the brick wall so that his knuckles were covered in blood. And he was certainly not thinking about the boy that was yelping in a corner, feeling more alone than ever in his entire life. No Harry wasn’t thinking about the boy, but in reality, that was all he could think about.


	3. Chapter 3

He had felt Harry’s gaze being glued on his back when he had walked away from the school ground, fighting away the tears that wanted to slide down on his rosy cheeks. In some way he had expected the brunette and him to change when they would arrive at the building, perhaps even be friends, but it turned out that Harry hated him as much as Niall hated the taller bloke.

He didn’t understand how he had actually been so dumb to think that they would be something similar to friends, acquaintances. It was quite clear that they didn’t like each other, so there was no point to even imagine that that would change in the any near future.

He remembered when he had taken a smoke outside, seeing Harry’s friends staring at him like he had been a caged animal at a zoo. Niall was certain that they had been talking about him, saying that he was a freak or something like that. But he didn’t care; it wasn’t like Harry’s opinion about him actually mattered.

“Niall, you can’t just skip school. And certainly not the first day, it took me a lot of persuasive to even get you in there.” Rob said, concern visible in his dull eyes.

“I didn’t ask you to put me into it, it’s not like I’m actually having a future anyway, so what’s the point.”

A strong palm found its way on his shoulder, warmth streaming out of his touch. In some way he wanted to shove away the fat and hairy fingers, but then he thought about that Rob was probably the only person in the world who actually cared about him, or that was what he had been telling himself. So he let the man pat him comfortingly as his own eyes was attached to the floor, feeling slightly embarrassed over that the principal had called them over this early.

Usually when he didn’t showed up at school, nobody noticed it. It was a normal thing from the place he came from that the students didn’t cared about going there, as they all knew that they would either get shot before they turned twenty, end up in prison or knock up some bird and then live at a trailer park. So it came as a bit of a shock for him when his teacher had gossiped on him that he hadn’t went to any lessons this day.

“There is a point, Niall, there is. I believe in you, even if you don’t. I know that a kid like you can accomplish so much things in life, if you only have a little hope in yourself and put some work and power into the stuff that you’re supposed to do… like studying for an example.”

“Okay then, I’ll go tomorrow.” Niall mumbled, feeling a blush crawl upon his pale cheeks.

“Good. Let’s go home now son.”

-

Harry lunged himself into his bed, still hearing the word ‘fag’ echoing in his head. Did Niall know, how could he? Harry wasn’t one of those stereotypes gay guys that wore pink and walked around the street with rainbow-coloured flags. He usually just wore his old band shirts and the tight black trousers, nothing unordinary.

And the friends he hung around couldn’t increase the conspiracy either, because Liam was probably the straightest guy in the whole world. He didn’t felt discomfort or anything like that when Harry or another male hugged him, but he radiated manliness. The whole shaved head thing with the big muscles, it made him look so secure, which made him seem really sexy, but that he wouldn’t admit to anyone.

Then there was Zayn, the towns’ own badboy. He drove around on his motorcycle with his leatherjacket floating in the air as he was smoking frantically. Every night he had a new girl that he shagged, drinking almost all the weekends. So he couldn’t be a reason why Niall thought that Harry was gay.

And lastly there was Louis, sure he was a bit weird, but he wouldn’t ever guess that he was playing for the other team if he had been. He was always very loud and extremely social. Louis had been the one who had talked to Harry the first when he first moved here, and they had become instant friends after only a few hours. It was the complete opposite to the old Harry, living in Holmes Chapel at a pub with his mum and older sister. At then, he hadn’t any friends, so he used to spend his time alone, sitting in his room as he took pictures of his own feet.

“What are you doing here?” He heard a voice asking him in a thick Irish accent.

He looked up and met the two blue eyes, glaring at him like he was some kind of disease. He was too tired to even come up with something spitefully to say back, so he only ignored the older lad while he took up a magazine that was laying on the nightstand beside him.

“I said; what’re you doing here.” Niall repeated, with some irritation that was hiding in his throat.

“Just don’t talk to me, I’m to fatigued to even think.” Harry yawned back as a response.

They stayed silent for a while, Harry trying to ignore the blonde that was standing like a statue on the floor. He didn’t knew why Niall didn’t moved away from the spot, it wasn’t like he didn’t have a bed of his own to go to.

“What is it?” he sighed, knowing that the lad wouldn’t go away if he didn’t showed any sign that he actually noticed him.

“Why you’re tired?” Niall wondered, his eyes trembling between the floor and Harry’s face.

“Why do you even care?”

“I don’t.”

“Good.” The brunette stated.

“Good.”

He turned around his body away from the older bloke, not wanting to see the curious eyes that never left his own. He felt ashamed that Niall could judge him so easily, reading him like an open book. When his stepfather had told him the news about him getting a new brother, he had felt so happy. He had always wanted to have a guy at home to hang around with, so when it had been revealed that there would be a lad in his own age that would move in with them, he had been so excited.

But it hadn’t turned out the way that he had imagined it too. Niall wasn’t interested in being his brother; he didn’t even wanted to be his friend. And to be honest, it hurt like shit. He didn’t knew why, because he didn’t even knew the kid, they had only known about each other’s presence for a couple of days. But his heart was pounding hardly against his chest and his breath was caught between his throat and mouth. He had to bite down his bottom lip so that he wouldn’t start crying, because if he did, then he would be even more embarrassed than he already was.

-

“You know Haz, it doesn’t seem like Niall have any friends.” Liam whispered into his ear.

He looked at the blonde, his head hidden between his shoulders. Harry had to agree with Liam, it certainly looked like he was the loneliest person in the world. But what was Harry supposed to do? Niall had told him loud and clearly that he wanted as little time as possible with Harry, so there was nothing he could do except ignoring him.

“Yeah well, he hasn’t tried to make any either. It’s his own decision if he wants to be alone or not.”

“Harry, I didn’t know that you could be so cold-hearted! Look at him, I mean, he looks like this lost puppy that doesn’t know where he belongs.” Louis exclaimed, throwing his hands out in the air.

“I’m not. But there is nothing I can do about it, so why should I care?”

“You should Haz, he’s your brother.” Liam said, trying to make him seeing it in the same perspective as him.

“I’ve already told you guys, Niall’s just some weird social case, I don’t care about if he doesn’t have friends or not!” Harry shouted, getting really irritated at his friends nosiness.

“Haz, I think he heard you.” Zayn whispered.

Harry turned around, and the tanned teen had been right, Niall had certainly heard him. He could see the smaller lad running the fastest he could out from the corridor, his bag forgotten on the floor. Harry walked slowly towards the blue denim backpack, taking it up from the dirty clinkers.

“Fuck.” He breathed out, feeling worse about himself than he had ever done before.

“You don’t say.” A voice agreed with him, but he didn’t bother to see who it was.

All he could think about was that he had been the one now that had put the other one in pain, and he didn’t felt nearly as good as he had thought he would.

-

Niall couldn’t actually believe that Harry had said something like that about him. Sure, he knew that he didn’t like him, but this was a lot more than dislike, this was hate. There was no reason for him to stay at the Styles family if he wasn’t even wanted there anymore. He had decided before anyway to not stay there too long, two weeks tops. And he had already been there for ten days, so it didn’t matter if he ran away a bit earlier.

His eyes were locked on the white house that was right in front of him, he couldn’t really believe it even though he knew that it was the truth, that he had lived in this fancy paradise for this long. It had been more than he had ever dreamt about, and even though he knew that he wasn’t wanted anymore, it had felt good to know that there was going to be food waiting for him when he woke up in the mornings.

He let his gaze fall down on his hands that were resting in his lap, leaves from the oak hanging in front of his eyes. He didn’t really know why Harry disliked him so much, sure he had been a bit mean in the beginning, but lately he had really tried to be nicer to him.

He thought about Greg, perhaps their old pals knew where his brother was. If he found him, then maybe they could be on the run together. Life seemed always a bit brighter whenever he could spend it with Greg, because they were family, they took care of each other. They didn’t call the other one ‘a weird social case’, and even though he had never told Greg that he was the most important thing in the world to Niall, that he loved him, he was almost certain that his older brother felt the same way about him.

“Ni, I’m sorry. I didn’t meant what I said, I was just irritated at my friends.” He heard the brunette apologizing, appearing from nowhere.

“Go away.” He hissed, invisible tears hiding in his own sad voice.

“Ni, I didn’t meant…”

“Please just go away Harry. I’ll come in soon, I promise. Just let me be alone for a few minutes before I take my bag and go away.” Niall pleaded.

“I don’t want you to go away, only chill down a bit. And about that, you forgot it in school, here.”

He looked at Harry’s hand that was reached out to him, for a moment everything went grey and the world seemed to stop. The brunette turned to nothing but a still, face as petrified as a picture.

His heart was beating hardly against his breast and it hurt to breathe. His brain screamed to him to choose, to either accept the hand or refuse Harry forever. It wasn’t an easy thing to just do, not for Niall anyway, because if he did, then they would be in equilibrium.

The colours were slowly starting to appear again, and muscles in the hands were beginning to move. He swallowed the shyness and took the bag, feeling his skin brushing slightly against the tanned one. He had to hold his breath so that Harry wouldn’t notice the way his touch had affected him, not in a positive way, but in a weird one.

He looked into the green eyes, and they seemed to shimmer more than usually. They were a bit blurry, and for a moment he wanted to say to him that he wasn’t angry anymore, that he understood why he had reacted the way he had done. But then he remembered how much the words had hurt him, so he decided to stay silent instead.

“Okay then. See you in a while, I guess.” He heard Harry mumble as he went away, head hanging shamefully down against his chest as he headed towards his home.

Niall looked up on the house again, burying his hand in his bleached locks as he felt the wind blowing softly against the hairs on his arms. The birds were singing silently and he wondered if he would maybe stay for a little while more, he didn’t have any other place to crash at either way. Perhaps everything would turn out better later; perhaps he and Harry wouldn’t loathe each other as much as they did right now. But deep inside, right beside his heart, he doubted that, because it felt a bit to late to heal their already fragile relationship. It felt to late to save what was already broken. 


	4. Chapter 4

He pushed his thumb hardly on the green button, seeing the car crash right into the wall. He saw the grey smoke dripping out into the air on the telly before he buried his head in his hands.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, feeling the anger swell up inside of him.

“Take it easy Haz, it’s just a videogame.” Louis chuckled.

Of course it was just a videogame, but that wasn’t the whole reason why he felt angry. Ever since he had gotten his little tantrum in school, Niall had been treating him like he was just air. Whenever they ate dinner at home, Niall only asked Harry’s parents if they could pass the food or reached all across the table, instead of asking Harry who was sitting right beside it. Sure it hadn’t been the nicest thing that he had shouted about him, but this was way worse. The older lad was ignoring him, and it hurt like a bitch.

“You know, why don’t we ask him to hang out with us one day? I mean, he’s always on his own, and I would have loved it if someone asked me if I were in his clothes.” Liam said, messaging his bare scalp.

“Who do you mean?” the tanned bloke wondered.

“Niall of course!”

Harry felt his eyes widening and his heart stop. There was no way that they were going to invite Niall to keep company with them. It was enough to have him hanging around the house all day, occupying the telly and watching the exact opposite to the programs Harry liked. Sometimes he wondered if he did it to just piss him off, because really, who could enjoy seeing screaming puppets mashing potatoes all the time? And whenever he tried to change channel, he was greeted by a death glare.

“I don’t think we should interfere so much in Harry’s personal life. He’s a big boy, he can handle it on his own.” Zayn claimed; looking rather annoyed that they didn’t continue playing his new x-box game that he had bought right before they arrived at Liam’s place.

He couldn’t find the words to describe how great Zayn was sometimes, like he could read his mind by just looking at him. He knew that Liam was just trying to be nice, but he was Harry’s friend, not Niall’s. If the blonde wanted to have someone to hang out with, which he doubted very much, then he had to find people somewhere else that weren’t in his acquaintance.

“You know Li, I think that sounds like a plan.” Louis exclaimed, a grin that reached all over his face.

“No, I don’t want him too.”

“I think you do Haz, you just don’t think you want it.” The brunette said, his smile getting bigger and bigger.

“I really don’t. Just fucking stop being so damn curious all the time Lou.” He muttered, feeling that the tantrum that he had at school wasn’t as far away anymore.

Harry knew that he had destroyed the rest of their evening; he could see the hurt that was mirroring in the older lad’s eyes as their friends were gasping loudly. But he couldn’t help it; it was Louis’ own fault. If he had just kept his opinion to himself sometimes, then they would be sitting in front of the telly, still playing the car race game.

-

He opened his eyes, seeing the curly haired being stretched over a thick red book. His eyes were narrowed and he kept rubbing his temple over again. He assumed that he was still studying, because he looked like he was really concentrated and his index finger was beating rapidly on the bench.

Niall wondered what he was thinking about, or if he was thinking at all. Usually smart people weren’t using their brain, only the knowledge that they had gotten from their books. When they were released out into the real world, they were like this empty piece of sheet; having to experience the same thing that Niall had learned when he turned five.

His expression changed when he closed the book, relief washing over his face. He was probably done with his homework, because he put it down into his bag before he pushed in the chair again.

When he turned around, and noticed that Niall was there, he gulped loudly and his cheeks turned crimson. The emerald orbs met the sapphire, and for a moment everything seemed to be a bit hotter. He couldn’t even open his mouth, all he thought about was how distracting his lips looked like. It wasn’t like he wanted to kiss them or anything like that, but they looked different form how they usually looked like. Normally they were just pink and a bit thick, skin bitten away from the lower. But now they were glowing, saliva covered over them. And he hoped that it wasn’t weird that he was thinking it, but he wondered what they tasted like, not because he had a crush on him or anything like that. Because he didn’t like guys, not in that way anyway, but only for that quick moment they reminded him about a girl wearing lip-gloss.

“Ehrm, did you want something.” Harry asked awkwardly.

“Huh?” he responded, not hearing a word, just seeing how the lips were moving.

“I said; did you want something? You were looking like you wanted to say something, but then you just stayed silent… like always.”

He knew that he hadn’t been talking to the younger lad that much lately. Actually, he knew that he hadn’t said anything to him. But it still hurt, and he couldn’t really let it go. He didn’t even know why, because Harry didn’t mean a thing to him. He was just the boring guy that he had to share his room with, hearing him snore the entire nights as Niall desperately tried to sleep. He was nothing, yet it felt like his opinion meant everything.

“Well yeah,” he began, rolling his thumbs.

“Harry I wanted to tell you something. Just so you know, I’m not angry. I was, but not anymore. It’s just, I don’t know what to say to you without feeling like there is this giant wall between us, do you understand what I mean?”

“Y-yeah. You should know though, I really am sorry,” Harry murmured hesitantly.

“And if you what to, perhaps you could sit at our table tomorrow at lunch?”

He smiled as an answer, not really bothering to say it out loud. Niall’s eyes trailed down at his big feet when he saw them walking out of the room, leaving him all by himself.

For a moment it felt like this wasn’t going to be so bad as he once had thought, that this big fight was needed for them to move on and heal their relationship. He threw his head at the pillow, his inside being a bit lighter than before. Niall didn’t notice that his palms were beginning to sweat, and that his heart was pumping faster. All he could think about was that his life was finally beginning to turn around.

-

“Haz, why is he following us?” Louis whispered, trying to not make the younger boy hear them.

“Because, I said that he could sit with us.” He replied nonchalantly.

“Oh you did, didn’t you.” The smaller guy said, the same smile back on his lips.

“Louis, it doesn’t mean anything, so stop assuming that it does.”

They walked together to the nearest table, a big window lightning up the wood. It felt weird that it wasn’t going to be just the four of them like it always were, because usually Harry didn’t like changes. He had just suggested it in the heat of the moment, and he hadn’t believed that the blonde would take it seriously. He hadn’t been able to stop himself before he had said it, to wrap up by Niall’s confession. But he regretted it now though, and especially when he saw that smug smirk on his friend’s face. He recognized it, he had seen it too many times before on Louis, and it always ended in disaster.

“So, how long have you been staying here in Bradford?” Zayn said, being the first one to speak to break the tension.

“I don’t know really…”

“One month and seven days.” He blurted out.

He felt how the other ones were staring at him surprisingly, and he didn’t knew if he was just dramatizing it, but it felt like he turned smaller in his chair, only an inch long. He hadn’t meant for it to be spoken aloud, but he had accidently done it. He didn’t even dared to look up; instead he let his eyes be glued onto the floor as he heard them continue talking. This was what he had feared, that he would feel left out by his own gang, and that Niall would replace him. He had to pinch his thigh so that he could control his own breathing. He was scared that they would notice that he wanted to crawl out of his skin, turn to this brave new Harry. It wasn’t until he felt a small kick against his calf, meeting two hazel eyes looking at him with perplex, that he began to participate in the conversation again, feeling a bit of the nervousness disappearing.

He wasn’t sure if he was just imagining stuff, but sometimes it seemed like Niall sent him small smiles once in a while as the others were talking, and when Harry tried to tell a joke, the blonde laughed a little bit louder than to the rest of his friends. And he wasn’t going to admit it, but his whole body felt like it was on fire when he met the two blue eyes. 


	5. Chapter 5

His eyes trailed over the small black letters that was scribbled down in a really bad handwriting. If he hadn’t known any better, then he would have guessed that it was a five-year old that had written it. But he recognised the style, he had sawn it a thousands of times before.

There were fins on the postcard, crowded in a small space of area. The sky was extremely blue, and he could almost smell the forest scent from the paper. He wanted to understand what the picture meant, if it was some sort of a secret message. But all he found was himself staring into the paper for almost a quarter straight.

He pressed the card against his heart as he let out a relieved sigh, not even caring if someone saw him. Niall had been really worried over that Greg hadn’t made any attempt to contact him since the day that they were parted when the older ran away. There had gone so many nights where he dreamt about seeing his brother’s face being covered in blood, seeing some Mexican being hovered over him as he took out the few bills that Greg had left in his pocket.

He was glad that Greg was in safety, and like he said, was hiding until the cops were tired out of looking after him. But yet he could help but feeling this little feeling of disappointment over that he hadn’t revealed anything that could tell him where he was, or if he would ever see him again. But he guessed he had to be happy over that his brother was still alive, when it all came down to it, that was the only thing that really counted.

“Was it from Greg?” Rob wondered as he frowned a bit with his eyebrows.

“None of your business.” Niall hissed back, jaw clenching as he griped the postcard a bit harder as he didn’t wanted the older man to see the message he had written to his little brother. He knew that Rob was just trying to be nice, but this was something personal, and it was the only thing that he still had from his brother.

“It’s okay son, you don’t have to tell me.”

He could see a slight hurt expression being painted in the dull eyes, and he couldn’t brush away the feeling of guilt. The man had offered him a place to stay in his own house, and yet Niall kept treating his entire family like they were all some filthy strangers

“I’m sorry.” He whispered as his gaze fell down on the floor. “I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just, talking about my family is a bit of had thing for him.” He admitted.

“Just take your time until you’re ready Niall, you’ll open up eventually.”

He gave him a grateful nod before he looked down on the postcard again, stroking it tenderly with his thumb as he imagined he could feel Greg’s skin against his. When he closed his eyes he could see Greg’s fingers being wrapped around the pen as he bit down his lip and wondered what the hell he should write to Niall about. He could feel a small chuckle in his throat as saw the amusing image in his head.

Greg had always been a lad with very few words, and it took him an eternity to even form the simplest sentence. And in some way it reminded him of Harry, because it took also a lot of time when he talked, never really getting to the point of whatever it was that he was actually trying to say. The difference was that Harry’s voice was slow, and Greg had just a really big trouble to express himself to others, even to Niall who was the person who he loved the most.

“Would it be okay if I visited my dad some day?” Niall blurted out.

“Are you sure? I mean; the last time you saw him was when the police arrested him.” Rob said concernedly.

“Are you trying to say that I’m not allowed to see my own father?” Niall asked with a challenging voice.

“Of course not. I’m just being worried about you son.”

“Yeah, well stop with that. And as I said before, I’m not your son, so don’t call me that.” He growled.

He looked with a disgusted look at the older man before he ran up the stairs, hearing Anne’s concerned voice asking her husband what had happened.

He knew that he was overreacting, but it made him so angry when Rob had denied him meeting his dad. He knew that Bobby was feeling alone, and that he longed after to see his youngest son. He understood that it was a bit hard for Rob to comprehend that Niall and his family really loved each other. Even though they had a bit of bad history, well really bad history actually, he wouldn’t sell them for anything in the world.

He met the green eyes when he entered the room, and it felt like the air from his lungs were trapped into his body. He didn’t knew whatever it was that the younger boy did to make him feel like this, but he knew that he didn’t like it one bit.

“Niall…” Harry breathed out as he blushed shyly.

“Harry.” He answered.

“What are you doing here?” he wondered.

“Remember that this is my room too… for the time being anyway.”

When the brunette heard the last words, he suddenly looked really bothered. Niall didn’t know why the sudden change of expression, and he couldn’t really care either.

It wasn’t his fault that Harry never told him about whatever it was that was going on inside of that curly head of his (well Niall never told him either anything, but he ignored that fact for the moment).

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not like I’m staying here forever. I’m going to move away as swiftly as Greg comes and get me.”

“Oh.”

-

 _‘But I don’t want you to go away. I’m used to have you around here’_ Harry thought silently.

He wanted to utter the words aloud, but he couldn’t. It was like someone was placing a palm in front of his mouth, and even how much he tried to say it, he couldn’t. All he did was to look down at his own feet when he whirled the computer chair and swallowed the words that died down.

Harry could head the older bloke sigh loudly before he went to his own bed and pulled the duvet over his small body.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Harry heard his own voice asking.

He looked shockingly at the blonde as he covered his mouth with his own hand, feeling like his eyes would pop out any time. He hadn’t actually meant to say it out loud; he had wanted it to stay as a thought. But it was to late now, and Niall looked rather annoyed about Harry’s curiousness.

“I don’t know actually,” He breathed out truthfully. “I want to fit in here, but I feel like the poor kid that your parents adopted to show up to their rich friends as a little puppy.”

“Rob would never do anything like that. He was just like you before a wealthy man took care of him and paid all his studies. He was sitting in jail for robbery, so you’re no worse than he ever were.” Harry told him, not sure if he was actually allowed to tell anybody outside their family the history. But then he reminded himself that Niall was family now, even though the blonde didn’t wanted to be a part of it at the moment.

“Rob, really?” he exclaimed. “Never thought that that stonecrop could ever be a badboy.”

“Don’t call him that. He’s a nice guy, behind all the annoying stuff like calling you ‘son’ in every freaking sentence, he really is a good guy.”

Harry hadn’t expected it, but Niall started to laugh a high chuckle as he had heard Harry telling him about the son-thing. He had thought that the older man was just saying it to him to make him feel irritated, he hadn’t actually believed that the man was serious about the word.

His tummy ached when he couldn’t stop laughing, and a minute later he found himself lying on the mattress as he hugged himself around the ribs as the tears were slipping down his cheeks. When he saw Harry’s amusingly gaze, he felt how he began to laugh even more than he had thought was going to be possible.

“It’s just.” He began. “It makes me so angry every time he says son.”

Harry expression softened, and soon he started to laugh too.

“I know. And the way he’s always so understanding. It pisses me off sometimes. My mum once had her period, and Rob was trying to seem like he comprehended her pain, and instead she got so insane she slapped him on the face before she moved to my grandma for an entire week.”

“Brilliant!” Niall let out between a laugh.

It felt good to be talking about what was bugging them about Harry’s stepdad, laughing as the tears were streaming. It was almost like the feeling when you were little and somebody tickled you, you couldn’t stop chuckling even how much you wanted to.

Harry had seen those pathetic romance movies at the telly that his big sister had forced him to when they had been smaller, and usually they seemed to bring up the subject ‘having a moment’. If Harry wasn’t entirely wrong, he and the blonde were having that thing right now,  _a moment_.

-

“I like Niall.” Louis said casually.

“Yeah, I like him too.” Liam agreed.

Zayn looked at his two friends, seeing mischievous plans being made in their minds. He knew already that this was something that they were going to regret later on, but what was he supposed to do? They were two against one and that was what he hated the most when Harry weren’t hanging around with them sometimes. The brunettes usually ganged up against Zayn, and he had to follow their dumbs ideas that always, and he was serious when he said always, ended in disaster.

He knew that Liam was only agreeing with Louis because he was the oldest one, and he looked extremely much up to him. He was also the one who was comforting him when Danielle refused to go out on a date with him, so it was quite understandingly why he felt like he had to agree with Louis’ opinions most of the time. It just pissed Zayn off sometimes.

“I think that we should invite him to one of our slumber parties.” The blue-eyed claimed as he smiled brightly.

“Please don’t call it a slumber party Lou. It’s just an evening at your home with some popcorn and a movie.” Liam said.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Li.” He groaned loudly. “I think that we should invite him anyway.”

Liam just hummed in an agreement as they continued to watch the program at the telly.

Zayn had a bad feeling about this ‘slumber party’ that the two blokes were planning. And if he had to be honest, it didn’t seem like Liam was so certain about this event either.

He didn’t understood why Louis always had to interfere in everybody’s lives; it was like it was some sort of mental instability of his. He could still remember when he had been convinced over that Zayn was in love with Harry’s sister Gemma. He had tried to set them up for months until she got a boyfriend that was so muscular that he could easily kill Louis in just one snap.

“Do you guys think that this is really such a good idea?” Zayn said as he looked into two pairs of confused eyes.

“Of course it is Zaynie! I’m never wrong when it comes to these stuff!”

“I’m not so certain.” He muttered as he drew his eyes on the screen again, feeling deathly glares being thrown by Louis.

-

“No way!” Harry exclaimed, green eyes being wider than ever.

“That was what I said. I told them that it was a bad idea.” The darker teen agreed.

“I’m just coming on good terms with Niall, I’m not going to tempt fate.”

Sometimes he didn’t understood whatever it was that was going on inside the oldest lad’s head. He always had the urge to intrude with everybody’s lives.

He was uncertain if his friends had miscomprehended this whole relationship that he had with the Irish. They were finally talking, sometimes they even chatted when they were alone at their room, but they didn’t hang out. He had only offered him to sit with them that one day so that he didn’t have to be alone all the time. It would have been inhuman if he hadn’t asked him to; they were stepbrother now for god’s sake!

He couldn’t help that he sometimes smiled at him a bit too long when he cracked a joke. There was something about him, and he couldn’t really place his finger at it. He made him feel really happy when he saw the blond hair being scattered over the white pillow, duvet pulled up under his chin as one arm was hanging loosely over the edge of the bed. He looked so pure and innocent, the total opposite of his usual self when he was awake. It wasn’t weird that he wanted to place small kisses on his forehead as he snarled loudly, chest going up and down, he had been telling himself. It wasn’t like he wanted to kiss him on the mouth; it was just that he wanted him to feel like home, nothing more.

“I don’t think we can stop him. Whenever he gets an idea, nobody can make him change his mind.”

“I know Zayn, I know,” He sighed as he buried his head in his hands and groaned. “It’s just, I don’t want him to destroy this thing I have with Niall. He just makes me feel so cheerful sometimes, and I don’t want that feeling to disappear again.”

“Do you like him?” Zayn whispered as he patted the younger lad on the back.

“Of course not!”

He could see in the hazel eyes that he wasn’t convinced, and if Harry had to be honest, he wasn’t so sure either.

-

He glanced from the corner of his eye at the blonde that was walking back and forth, hands dangling in the air as he breathed worriedly. Niall bit his under lip as his eyebrows were frowning. He wondered whatever it was that made him so concerned. Perhaps it was the whole thing with his brother being on the run, not even sure if he was still alive. If it had been Gemma, he would have been worried sick over that she didn’t contact him with more than a postcard. But he didn’t want to judge Niall’s relationship with his family; Harry had never met them, so he wasn’t allowed to make an opinion about them.

“What is it?” Harry asked him with a low voice.

“Nothing much.” He replied as with a distracting glare.

“Tell me.” The curly haired demanded.

He sighed loudly as he fell down on the bed. It looked for a moment like he was going to snap, but then he let all the air from his lungs come out, and it sounded like he was slowly starting to panic.

“It’s just… your friend Louis. He said that I had to come to one of your parties, and when I tried to tell him that you wouldn’t want me there, he forced me into it.”

Harry felt really bad because of that Niall thought so low about him. Sure, he had disliked him very much in the beginning. But lately he had started to grow a liking in the kid; it was quite hard not to when you had to spend every freaking day with him, hearing him curse in every single sentence.

“No, no. I wouldn’t mind if you followed at all. We usually just eat some snacks and watch a movie. But it would be fun if you came with us, it really would be.” He said reassuring.

“Okay… I’ll come then.” Niall said, smiling shyly as he fiddled with his own hair.

Harry wasn’t certain why, because earlier this day he had been sure that this wasn’t going to go well, and he wasn’t convinced yet. But he looked forward to spend the entire Friday night at Liam’s house with the lads, and perhaps he would have the opportunity to get to know Niall a bit better than just the gangster kid from Mullingar.

-

He grinned widely as Louis handed them another green bottle of beer. This was one of the greatest things about being friends with an older guy, somebody who could always fix booze to them.

His head felt a bit dizzy, but that was because he wasn’t used to drink. Zayn and Liam was normally the ones who followed the oldest guy as he went to the club and partied, but Harry wasn’t allowed to do that since he was a bit younger than the rest of them, and his mum was very protective over her only son.

“I think that we should play spin the bottle!” Louis said, lifting up a bottle in the air.

“Yeah, that’s a terrific idea!” Liam joined him.

Usually Harry would just whine and tell them that he didn’t want to, but with the alcohol running in his blood, made him think otherwise.

Zayn took the remote and put the telly on standby before he sat down with his wobbling legs in the little circle that they had formed. He didn’t either seem to feel as annoyed as usually.

“The one the bottle lands on has to tell us who he has a crush on.” Louis said as he whirled the flask.

It landed on Liam, and a small blush crawled upon his cheeks. Harry didn’t even understood why he was embarrassed about it; it wasn’t like everybody didn’t know that he liked that older girl a year above.

“Yeah… well I have a crush on Danielle.”

“Like we didn’t know that!” Harry shouted, surprised over himself. The only time when he really told people the way he felt, was when he was either angry or drunk, and those things usually came one in hand.

Liam only took the green beer bottle from the other brunette’s hand as he looked shyly down at the floor, the blush still covering his cheeks. He  shouldn’t be ashamed, it was just feelings when it all came down to it.

Harry felt quite bad for the lad; he knew that Liam wasn’t the type who liked to brag about the girls he liked. And Dani, she was a sensitive subject, as she still hadn’t showed him any interest. If he had to be fair, she was a bit older than the shaved kid. But he looked good, and he was nice and funny, and really smart too. He was a real catch, and she was stupid for not noticing it.

“The one it lands on has to drink a glass with milk mixed with water.”

“Wimp!” Louis shouted loudly.

“Okay, okay. You come up with something better then!” Liam muttered in a husky voice.

“Okay then. The one it lands on has to kiss the one who sits beside him on his left… on the mouth!”

It felt like forever until the bottle stopped spinning, and when it landed on Niall, Harry’s entire inside felt like ice. He didn’t knew why he felt like he wanted to vomit when he saw Niall giggling before he reached over Zayn’s body before he pressed his lips quickly against the tanned teen’s. Niall dried his mouth off before he sat down again, a bit of crimson on his cheeks.

He shouldn’t react like this; it was only Niall for god’s sake! Dumb and stupid Niall that didn’t knew labels and humility even if you shoved it down into his throat with a shovel. He was the one who would call Harry a fag whenever he got the chance, or make him feel this hatred that he never felt for anyone except the Irish. Yet he felt like he was about to cry, and when he met Zayn’s dark eyes, he felt like he wanted to punch the shit out of him.

He should have said that he didn’t wanted to kiss Niall, that he had to kiss someone else… like Harry for an example. Oh, he was just being weird; he always got sexually frustrated when he drank a bit too much.

“Oh, that was so hot, even for two guys making out!” Louis shouted, and Harry felt like he wanted to throw his shoe against his head.

“Shut up!” Zayn growled and the annoyance in his voice seemed to make the older lad do as he was told.

He met Zayn’s amber eyes, and he could see the guilt that was washing over the dark face. He knew that he was being unfair, but he couldn’t even concentrate on what was going on the rest of the night; all he could do was to swallow the tears that wanted to be shed so badly.

-

When he woke up the next morning he saw a blond body being sprawled beside him. His chest was rising up and down as he murmured silently in his sleep. Niall looked so adorable, and he really wanted to peck a kiss against his lips, just a quick one. He looked at him with a goofily smile so that his dimples appeared, and he hoped to God that Niall wouldn’t wake up to see his childish grin.

“Haz?” a hoarse voice yawned.

He glanced at the raven, hair messier than ever. He had to remember to mock him about looking like this hobo later. He knew that Zayn hated to show himself to the other lads in the mornings, because he couldn’t prepare his appearance before the others would wake up.

“Yeah?”

“Are we okay, you know since I kissed him and all?” Zayn whispered.

Harry frowned irritated, feeling more anxious than ever. He didn’t even know why, since he didn’t have anything to hide from one of his best friends.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?”

“I don’t know, I just wanted to know that we’re on good terms.” The jet-black haired teen mumbled before he drifted back to sleep again, one arm under his neck, his nose pressed to the pillow.

Of course he was okay with Zayn kissing Niall, why wouldn’t he be? And like Niall had said, he wasn’t going to stay forever, so it was better that Harry would get used to it.


	6. Chapter 6

The sight of the fence and barbed wire appeared for his eyes. There were men in blue with black sunglasses and walkie-talkies that protected the door to the grey building. It was a bit weird to be here, because this was entirely different from the jail where Niall had been sitting in. This was big, and on the ground there was tiny bloodstains with broken teeth. The men weren’t even screaming here, only crying after a hand to rescue them. All he could think about was that he was scared to meet his father that was waiting for him at the other side of the building.

“You okay, son?” Rob wondered.

“Sure.” Niall claimed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

When the elder man had told him that they were going to visit his dad, both relief and nervousness had washed over him. He was happy to finally meet his father again, but scared over how badly he might look. What if a prisoner had smashed his face? What if he didn’t recognise him? He didn’t even want to think along those lines.

He followed Rob; he seemed to know where they were headed. A man, who was dressed even fancier than his fat fellow, greeted Rob friendly.

He wore a green striped tie and a white shirt with a black blazer. Under his belly he had a golden belt, and his shoes were brown and shiny.

“Robert, it’s really nice to see you. Even under these circumstances, I’m happy to meet you here.”

“You too, John, you too.” He answered absently as he scratched his moustache.

“We’re just turning left, and then we’re in the same room as the famous Bobby Horan.” He chuckled.

Niall decided that he didn’t like the man, not the slightest. Who was he to make fun of his dad? Even though he had done something really horrible, it didn’t make it right for him to mock his old man.

He met Rob’s gaze, and he could see that he hadn’t liked the way he had talked about his father either. And that was the thing that he liked the most about him, that he always seemed to be on his side.

When they entered the room, he couldn’t see anything. It was dark, and really, really cold. He could hear someone clearing his voice, and he didn’t needed to see whom it was to know exactly who was sitting there, coughing.

“Niall.” An Irish accent filled his ears. “It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah it has.” He replied casually as a little lamp lighted up.

“How’s Greg?”

“I don’t know.” He lied.

He didn’t understand why his dad had asked him about his brother. They both new that he had to lie so that the cops wouldn’t find him, and his father shouldn’t pretend that he hadn’t comprehended their stern position that they were in.

“And your mum, she’s good?”

“I haven’t talked to her lately. Been busy.”

His father nodded quickly, he had been informed that his son had been placed at a wealthy family’s house. Even though he missed his son extremely much, he was happy that he was in a home where there were parents who could take care of him, who wouldn’t trade him for a joint. The thing was; he didn’t know how to say it out loud how much Niall really meant to him.

“Oh, I can see that.” Bobby replied silently. “And school, you’re doing fine there? Doing your homework and stuff?”

“Sometimes. I have a stepbrot- a guy that lives at Rob’s house who sometimes help me with my math and stuff.”

Stepbrother? So he was already replacing them. Perhaps it was for the best, maybe that was the only way for his youngest son to become this great man that he knew that he was deep inside.

“I’m happy for you Ni.”

“And dad… how have you been doing?”

Niall looked at the grey ceilings, they looked sad and boring. He couldn’t understand how his father could put up with this shit everyday.

Sure, he had strangled somebody. But that wasn’t a good enough reason for him to sit here. Even though there were people who thought that Bobby Horan deserved to die, Niall couldn’t agree with them. He had killed another person’s dad, but if it had been their dad who had murdered his father, he was certain that they wouldn’t want their dad to be executed.

A small crinkle appeared beside the old and dull eyes. He looked worn, like he had been awake for hundreds of days, and that he was a minute from falling asleep.

“I’m good son… thanks for asking.” He answered back awkwardly.

Niall wasn’t certain if he was allowed to or not, but he did it anyways. He smiled brightly to his father, and Bobby sent him a smile that matched his.

-

Liam and Zayn were talking at the back of the classroom. They didn’t even seem bothered that their teacher glanced at them angrily, instead they kept whispering, and Niall couldn’t help that he felt a bit curious over what they were talking about.

He knew that they were Harry’s friends, but they had invited him to their movie night at Louis’ place, so perhaps it would be okay if waked down and talked to them. Liam seemed nice, sure he was a bit lame, but he beamed trustworthy. And Zayn, they both smoked so they did have something in common.

But before he could think too much about it, the bell ringed and the students’ rose from their chairs, and suddenly he was left alone in the classroom. He met his Mrs Roswell hazel eyes, and she grinned up happily as she waved her hand to him so that he should follow her.

“So Niall, what do you think about it here since you moved? Do you feel welcomed by everyone?” she asked as she corrected her round glasses.

She was actually really pretty. Long black hair with curls that fell prettily downs her shoulders. She wore a floral dress with suede boots on her feet.

“I’m okay.” He lied.

Of course he didn’t felt welcomed. Apart from Harry, Liam, Louis and Zayn, there hadn’t been a person who had talked to him. But he was okay with that, because he didn’t liked to have too many people around him. If he had, he wouldn’t know which persons he could trust or not.

“Have you made any friends yet?” she asked him, and her smile began to disappear as the seconds passed.

“Not that much no.” he sighed, “But I’m happy anyway.”

“Oh, okay then. But if you ever feel like talking, I’m right here.”

He didn’t know how many times he had heard teachers say that exactly sentence before to him.  _If you ever feel like talking, I’m right here._ Well, where were them when his mum was unconscious for three days because she had taken an overdose? Where were all those people who ‘cared’ about him when his father had been arrested? No, the only three adults that actually did care about him were Anne, Rob and his father.

“Sure thing.” He replied before he rushed out from the classroom.

-

Harry hadn’t been able to drop the thought about Zayn and Niall since last week when they had been at Louis’ place. He didn’t understood why he cared so much about that little peck that the two boys had shared; it wasn’t like he it had mattered to anyone. It was just a game, a new dumb idea by Louis Tomlinson, yet he feared that it did matter.

What if Niall had developed feelings towards Zayn? What if he actually cared about the raven? No, it couldn’t be like that. Niall wasn’t even gay; of course he wouldn’t suddenly fall in love with Harry’s best friend.

But the way he had blushed, it had made Harry feel so angry, even more furious than when the blonde had called him a fag. It wasn’t fair that Zayn had had the opportunity to kiss Niall when Harry hadn’t.

It’s wasn’t like Harry actually wanted to kiss the older lad, it was just that he didn’t like the thought of Niall and Zayn making out in front of him. Well if he had to be honest, he didn’t like the thought of them making out behind his back either.

He felt somebody wrap its arms around his stomach, and for just a second he hoped that it would be rhat somebody that he shouldn’t want to embrace him. He leaned into the touch, and a light peck was pressed to his cheek that heated up.

“Oh baby, it was a long time ago since it was only you and me at the home.” His mum whispered.

“Mum!” he exclaimed.

“What?”

“You can’t just hug me from the behind and kiss me… that’s weird!”

She only chuckled as an answer before she went to the stove and began to heat up some meatballs that they had left since his grandma had last visited them.

He was certain that there would be cat hair in these too, because she always seemed to roll her food in her blind cat Ronald’s fur.

“Oh Harry, I almost forgot. I showed Niall your old photo album of you as a baby.” She informed him as she stirred in the pan.

“Why did you do that?” he whined.

Didn’t she understand that she had just ashamed him for at least a year forward. Had she just asked the Mullingar kid that ‘Hey Niall, do you want to see pictures of Harry when he was a kid. There’s loads of him being naked, that should fit you since you’re a homophobe!”

And Niall, how had he reacted? He would probably mock Harry about it later on. It would be weird if he didn’t, because it wasn’t like he actually liked him yet. He didn’t seem like he disliked him as much as before, but he sure hadn’t befriended him either.

“I just wanted him to feel as family,” She explained, “and by the way, he told me that you looked really cute.”

He felt himself blushing as his gaze fell down on the floor. He couldn’t comprehend the fact that Niall Horan, a son of a prisoner, had said that he looked cute… well that him as a baby had looked cute anyway. That would mean something, that had to be a sign that he didn’t hate him as much as before. Because Harry certainly didn’t hate him anymore.

-

He felt how the green eyes were following every step that he made. He didn’t like the feeling that the curly was observing him so deeply. It made him feel a bit anxious, and he never was anxious otherwise.

When he turned around, and their eyes met, Harry’s cheeks flushed before the brunette looked down on the grass again. He had noticed a different behaviour of the younger boy since the movie night. He didn’t know why, but he seemed to get embarrassed every time that they were near each other.

“Niall?” Harry whispered quietly.

“Yeah?”

The silence fell between them, and Niall wondered whenever they got so awkward? In the beginning they had only spitted curses at the other one, but later on they had seemed to enjoy each other’s company. But now, they couldn’t even be in the same room without someone of them blushing.

“I wondered if you would maybe hang out tomorrow, perhaps take a coffee or something?”

“And the guys too?”

Harry inhaled deeply before he looked up to the blue eyes.

“If you want to.” He said. “But I had thought that it could be only you and me, but we can ask Louis, Liam and Zayn too if you would rather want them to come.”

“No, it’s fine. We can take a coffee together… if you pay, because I’m broke.” The Irish snickered.

“Yeah, of course.” He smirked smugly back before he climbed down from the tree that they had been sitting in.

 

Perhaps he had been a bit jealous of Zayn, but that was okay, because Niall would rather spend his afternoon with Harry than with the raven. And that made him happy, because that meant that he actually meant something for the blonde, if only, a little bit.


End file.
